Mechanical toy



J. H. GUTTRIDGE.

MECH ANICAL TOY. APPLICATION HLED AUG-5. I919.

1,355,665. Patented Oct. 12,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Vl/A VII/III/IIII/III/llll/I ATTORNEY J. H. GUTTRIDGE.

MECHANICAL TOY.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-5, 1919.

1,355,665, Patented 0ct. 12,192'0.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MECHANICAL TOY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 12, 1920.

Application filed August 5, 1919. Serial No. 315,492.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Josnrn HARRY Gn r'r- RIDGE, citizen of the United States, resid ng at Youngstown, in the county of Mahoning and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mechanical Toys, of which the following is ,a specification.

This invention relates to mechanical toys, the mechanism of which is operated by rolling balls placed in a ball-way or race, each ball automatically releasing the following one until the supply of balls in the ball-race is exhausted.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is "a side elevation; Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section on line 2-2 Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is acentral vertical longitudinal section; Fig. 4 is a topplan view of the lower ball-race, showing its relation to the tripping or releasing mechanism; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary View in perspective, showing in detail the construction of the tripping or releasing mechanism; Fig. 6 is a vertical transverse section, illustrating the manner of mounting the swinging object or member, shown in the drawings in the form of a bear.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the various figures of the drawings.

a represents the base of the structure in the form of a boX, which may be provided with transparent sides and ends, such as mica. Rigidly mounted upon the top of the base a, and adjacent one end thereof, is the standard or column Z), having a central bore 0. Rigidly secured to the upper end of column b, is the slightly inclined'cross-arm d, also provided with a central bore e to form a ball-race, as plainly shown in Fig. 3. It is obvious, of course, that this ball-race may be formed by cutting a groove in the upper face of the cross-arm (Z instead of providing the central bore 6 as shown in the drawings. A pin p may be placed in the bore 6 or the ball-race inthe arm d, adjacent the bore 0 in the column b, to insure against the premature passage of this point by the balls.

Rigidly mounted upon the base or box a, and adjacent the longitudinal center thereof, is the bracket f, to the upper end of which is swingingly mounted upon the pin 9 the member it, shown in the drawings in the form of a bear. Further rigidly mounted upon the top of the base or boX a, and adj acent the end opposite the column b, is the bowl or receptacle 2', provided with a central end of which is pivotally mounted the tripping lever m. Reciprocatingly disposed within the bore 0 of column b, and extending the full length thereof, is the actuating stem n, the lower end of which is pivotally con nected with one end of the lever 'm as at 0.

Within the base or box a, I provide one or more inclined ball-races or chutes (three being shown in the drawing is, 70' and k"), the receiving end of the upper-most one of which is disposed immediately beneath the orifice j in the lower part of the bowl 5, while the delivery end of the lower-most one is disposed immediately above the free end of the lever m and the delivery end of each of the other chutes is disposed immediately above the receiving end of the one below it.

The operation of my device is as follows:

One end of the bore 6 in the cross-arm d is filled with balls g-g, the inner-most one of which will rest in the upper end of the bore 0 in column b, and against the pin p.

d Then the spindle n is manually lifted to release the first ball over the pin 7'9. This ball is then delivered from the lower end of the cross-arm (i into the arms, so to speak, of the swinging member h, as shown in Fig. 1. The weight of this ball is sufiicient to overcome the normally balancing weight of the lower end of the swinging member h, causing the latter to swing on its pivot g to the point where it will deliver the ball into the bowl or receptacle 2', as shown in Fig. 3, after which the member 7 will swing back to its normal position as shown in Fig. 1. The ball will then find its way through the orifice 7' into the inclined chute 76, from which it will be delivered into the chute 7c, thence into 7:", and so on until it reaches the lowermost of the inclined chutes, from which it will be delivered on top of the free end of lever m, depressing the same and thereby raising the spindle n, which will release the next ball in the cross-arm (Z, and thus, the operation will be repeated until all of the balls are out of the cross-arm.

I claim 1. In a device of the class described, a base, a column mounted upon said base, a cross-arm secured to said column and provided with a ball-race, a swinging member mounted upon said base, a receptacle rigidly mounted upon said base and communicating therewlth, one or more inclined ball-chutes wlthin said base, a trip lever mounted within said base, and a spindle having its lower end connected with said trip-lever and the other end extending upwardly to the ballrace in said cross arm. V I

2. In a device of the class described, a base, a column mounted upon said base, a cross-arm secured to said column and provided with a ballrace, a swinging member mounted upon'said base, a receptacle rigidly mounted upon said base and communicating therewith, one or more inclined ball-chutes within said base, a plurality of rolling members, and means for automatically successively releasing said rolling members.

3. In a device of the class described, a base, a .column mounted upon said base and provided with a central longitudinal bore, a cross-arm secured to said column and provided with a ball-race communicating with the bore in said column, a swinging member mountedupon said base, a receptacle rigidly mounted upon said base and communicating therewith, one or more inclined ball-chutes within said base, a'trip-lever mounted with in said base and a spindle slidably mounted in the bore of said column and having its lower end connected with said trip-lever.

4. In a device of the class described, a

' base, a column mounted upon said base and provided with a central longitudinal bore, a

cross-arm secured to saidcolumn and provided wlth a central longitudinal bore communicating with the bore in said column, a swinging'member mounted upon said base, a receptacle rigidly mounted upon said base and communicating therewith, one or more inclined ball-chutes within said base, a triplever mounted within said base, and a spindle slidably mounted in the bore of said 

